It's rare for teams to lose in overtime of the NFL's divisional round and fire their head coach. But the clock is ticking on gettingJosh Allento a Super Bowl.
Sean McDermott was fired Monday morning, about 36 hours after his teamlost 33-30 to the Denver Broncos in overtime. It's hard to put all the blame on McDermott, especially for a roster that had serious flaws all season and asked Allen to do it all. But the Bills obviously thought something had to happen, even after making the playoffs seven straight seasons.
It's hard to lay it all on Allen either, though he is the one whose legacy is debated every day.
AAllen put the blame on himselfin an emotional interview with the media after the Bills' loss, and he had some key mistakes in a loss to the Broncos. Also, the Bills wouldn't be anywhere near the playoffs without Allen, and everyone knows it.
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There isn't a lot of help around Allen.General manager Brandon Beane has gotten upsetat the inference that Allen doesn't have enough help, particularly at receiver, but it's a valid criticism. The defense has been up and down the past couple seasons too. Yet, Beane stays on while McDermott got fired. That's curious.
Whether we want to blame Allen or the situation around him for the latest loss doesn't matter that much. What matters is how the Bills get to a Super Bowl in Allen's prime. It's hard to imagine Allen doing more than he has through the years, even though he deserves some criticism for the turnovers at Denver. That means Buffalo needs to find ways to upgrade around him. The franchise identified the first area that needed to be fixed, and unfortunately for McDermott it was the head-coaching spot.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from the divisional round of the NFL playoffs:
WINNERS
Mike Macdonald:TheSan Francisco 49ers' offense was nearly unstoppable in December. TheSeattle Seahawksheld the 49ers to without a single touchdown in eight quarters against them in January.
For a few years, every NFL team with a head-coaching opening seemed to be looking to hire the hottest offensive mind available. Teams in this cycle might see the light on the assistants having success stopping those offenses. Defensive coordinators like Chris Shula, Jesse Minter and Matt Burke, who are all hot candidates this month, might owe Mike Macdonald a bit of gratitude.
Macdonald, the head coach of the Seahawks, has delivered exactly what Seattle hoped for and far beyond in his second season. He has Seattle one home win from Super Bowl LX, and Macdonald's defense is leading the way. The Seahawks' defense ranked 25th in points allowed in 2023, 11th last season when Macdonald arrived and first this season. The Seahawks made those major leaps without having any Defensive Player of the Year candidates. They have very good players but a lot of the success is due to Macdonald's scheme, which got him on the head-coaching radar when he was theBaltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator.
Macdonald's defense tied up 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, perhaps the NFL's best offensive play caller.Brock Purdyhad just 127 and 140 passing yards in his two most recent matchups against Seattle, a Week 18 loss and the divisional playoff blowout. The Seahawks won 41-6 on Saturday night to move on to the NFC championship game. Seattle wasn't expected to even win the NFC West this season but has been the best team in the NFL from the start of the regular season through the divisional round. Macdonald has been a massive part of that quick turnaround. He made a smart hire of Klint Kubiak (another hot head-coaching candidate) as his offensive coordinator before this season which took care of that side of the ball. It's hard to take over after a franchise icon, but Macdonald has reenergized the Seahawks after they started to slip near the end of the Pete Carroll era.
Macdonald isn't the only defensive-minded head coach having success. Mike Vrabel has theNew England Patriotsin the conference championship round too. DeMeco Ryans has lifted theHouston Texansin his three seasons there. McDermott had been a playoff mainstay, though his time is up: The Billsfired him Monday morningafter failing to get Buffalo to a Super Bowl in the Josh Allen era.
Even if McDermott couldn't get Buffalo over the playoff hump despite many wins through the years, Macdonald has shown that not every team needs to be chasing a hot offensive play caller to have success. The tide is turning. Defensive coaches are back in style again.
Jarrett Stidham:Stidham clearly didn't want to seeBo Nix get hurt. Nobody roots for injuries, particularly to a teammate. Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Stidham and Nix are close friends, as well.
Yet, think of the situation Stidham finds himself in.
Nix's season-ending injury, suffered late in the Broncos'thrilling 33-30 overtime winover the Bills, puts Stidham in the starting lineup for the AFC championship game. It will be just the fifth start of his six-year NFL career. Payton said he has full confidence in Stidham, who he said could start for a handful of other teams. All Stidham has to do to go from a little-known backup to an overnight phenomenon is help Denver win two more games. Even winning one game will carve out a place in NFL history. It won't be easy, but not impossible with a very good defense on his side and also a great coach in Payton.
There have been plenty of good but unmemorable quarterbacks through the years. But we remember quarterbacks like Jeff Hostetler, Trent Dilfer and Nick Foles, who took over in adverse situations and were the starting quarterbacks in a Super Bowl win. Foles already made the connection witha funny social media messageregarding Stidham on Sunday.
Stidham didn't ask for this and presumably if he had his way, his good friend Nix would be starting this weekend. But he has an opportunity that is practically unprecedented. The quarterback with four career starts, who hasn't thrown a pass in either of the past two regular seasons, can become a legend if Denver wins two more games.
Patriots defense:The roadblock to Jarrett Stidham's potential fairy tale story coming true is that theNew England Patriots' defense isn't an easy assignment, especially lately.
The Patriots wrecked Justin Herbert and the Chargers in the wild-card round, holding Los Angeles to three points. In the divisional round the Texans had just 241 yards and New England forced five turnovers, including a pick 6 by cornerback Marcus Jones. A lot has and will be made about C.J. Stroud melting down andwhat it might mean going forward, but the Patriots had a lot to do with those mistakes.
New England had a fantastic breakout season, and the defense was a big part of that. It has gotten better in the playoffs. And all the Patriots need to do is beat a team forced into using its backup quarterback to get back to a Super Bowl.
Caleb Williams:Williams did more to elevate his reputation in the playoffs than any other player, even the ones who are still alive for the conference championship games.
Quarterbacks always get too much attention and that is especially true in the playoffs. What will be remembered from this Chicago Bears playoff run is the dramatic comebacks Williams had, including two highlights that will help start to define his NFL career. His fourth-down pass to Rome Odunze against the Packers was remarkable, and he might have outdone himself with a fourth-down touchdown in the final minute to Cole Kmet to send the divisional round game against the Rams to overtime. That comeback didn't end up in a Bears win, and Williams' overtime interception was a big keyto the Rams' win.
It's not like Williams' turnover in overtime should be ignored, but the Bears were already playing with house money at the end of a huge season for the franchise. Williams has completed just two NFL seasons. The Bears should feel like something special is coming together.
LOSERS
What's next for 49ers and Texans:Both teams had good seasons. The 49ers dealt with numerous big injuries and overcame them to win 12 regular-season games and a playoff game. The Texans shook off a slow start to win 10 in a row, including a wild-card round playoff win.
But the offseasons for each won't be that easy.
For San Francisco, it's another year down the line for a core that is aging. And some players like Nick Bosa and George Kittle are coming off major injuries. Christian McCaffrey is coming off a massive 450-touch season and will be 30 years old. We saw Saquon Barkley take a big step back this past season after a 482 touches the season before. It's worth keeping an eye on. The 49ers will have to keep retooling the roster, especially on defense, and do it around some huge contracts.
The Texans' issue is a lot different. The postseason was alarming for C.J. Stroud, who had a great rookie season andhas not recaptured that in the two seasons since. Stroud was bad in the wild-card round and the Texans overcame it, and he was worse in the divisional round and Houston couldn't make up for it. They lost to the Patriots with Stroud throwing four interceptions including a bad pick-6.
The Texans will surely pick up Stroud's fifth-year option, and they'll likely work out an extension soon, but the confidence in him has to be waning even if coach DeMeco Ryans backed himafter Sunday's game.They need to figure out how to get Stroud back to his rookie year form, if they can.
Houston and San Francisco have better foundations than many of the teams already into their offseasons. But there are still some big questions awaiting each of them.
